


Like Glass

by xenosaurus



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2017-05-11
Packaged: 2018-10-30 19:46:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10883676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenosaurus/pseuds/xenosaurus
Summary: Jaal brings his hand up to cover Sara's and guides it to his mouth.  She trembles when he kisses her palm.





	Like Glass

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Octobig](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Octobig/gifts).



In a way, love makes aliens of us all. The sweet ache of longing makes every difference, every quirk seem exceptional and ethereal. A lover is a culture of one.

But Sara is an alien in truth. Her body and spirit are otherworldly in a far more literal sense. To be with her is akin to exploring a galaxy, with all its wonders and bafflement.

The lights are dimmed in her cabin, leaving only the faintest silhouette of her against the cosmos. Jaal can still taste her, blissful bitterness and salt on his tongue. She tilts her head like she's looking at him, though he knows her eyes can't read this darkness.

She's seated while he is on his back, still shivering as his body's currents readjust. He can feel her as much as he can see her, the slightest hum of electric feedback where her thigh is mere inches from his. There is no echo of her own frequency, but in a way, that is an echo in and of itself.

Sara slowly brings her hand up and touches his face with her fingertips. He closes his eyes to welcome her near-silent current into his skin.

"You smell like ozone," She mutters, tracing the underlying structure of his face.

"Oh?"

Sara doesn't laugh, though it's the kind of conversational thread that usually amuses her.

"When you orgasm, I mean. It's like... even the air can't hold that much passion. I'm starting to have a reaction to the engines when they overheat."

She still isn't laughing. Jaal brings his hand up to cover hers and guides it to his mouth. She trembles when he kisses her palm.

"Darling one?"

Sara gently pulls her hand from his and tucks her knees into her chest. Even in the dark it looks almost eerie. Jaal could only manage that position if his legs were broken.

"I love you," Sara says, her voice muffled. She sounds anguished.

"Is this... not a good thing?" Jaal asks, searching his mental catalogue of humanity.

"No, God, I just-- I've never been with someone like you before. You feel so intensely and you-- you let me do it too, Jaal."

"I am... not sure I understand."

"My family didn't exactly _do_ feelings. Fuck, I miss dad but he wasn't exactly the _supportive_ sort, and mom was always wrapped up in him so Scott and me, we just... Even the most important shit in my life is a joke. The Ryder twins take 'humor as a coping mechanism' to a whole different level. I don't even know how to take _myself_ seriously. Except when I'm with you."

Jaal sits up and opens his arms. Even in the dark, Sara seems to catch his cue. She uncurls and slides into his embrace. She presses her face into his neck. This close, scent overpowers bioelectric feedback. Her temples are damp with sweat from their coupling, adding salt into the mixture of fruit and flowers he made for her. She had delighted in his soaps.

"I feel like I could tell you any disgusting, fragile thing I've ever felt and you'd protect it as fiercely as you protect _me_."

"Of course I would. Those things are part of the person I treasure above all else."

Still, Sara doesn't laugh. Sometimes she laughs when he praises her. He asked Liam about it and couldn't get a straight answer.

Instead, she nuzzles him gently. Jaal suspects she is crying.

"Thank you. That's.... That's everything to me, Jaal. I still can't really believe there's someone who... You know. Wants to see the ugly stuff. I feel like you love _me_ , not the idea of me or a version with pieces cut out."

"That is what love should be, darling one."

Sara finally laughs, barely a tremor of a thing.

"God, Jaal. I love you so much."

Jaal tightens his arms around her and wonders at how similarly their hearts beat.

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is @[xenosaurus](http://xenosaurus.tumblr.com)


End file.
